The many questions surrounding the Big East with conference starting

December 17, 2024

The Big East season begins in earnest this week, and the Post's Zach Braziler looks at the storylines to watch before league play begins.

Key injuries weaken conference

Creighton already lost key guard Pop Isaacs to season-ending hip surgery.

Coach Xavier announced Monday that forward Zach Freemantle will be out indefinitely with a knee injury. The team already lost Long Beach State transfer Lassina Traore, who was expected to be the starting center in the summer, to a season-ending knee injury.

And Providence was without star forward Bryce Hopkins, who played in just three of 12 games due to a torn ACL.

All three teams struggled in the non-conference, with Providence in particular going 0-3 against Atlantic 10 opponents.

Of the three, Creighton's best shot at making the NCAA Tournament is if Fedor Djugić, a sharpshooter who is highly regarded in Europe, is cleared. The Blue Jays are still awaiting word on his status.

Who is the winning team?

Despite losing against Dayton on Saturday, Marquette should be favorites to win the regular season championship. They have one of the best players in the Big East in senior point guard Cam Jones, and by far six of the top eight scorers are still from a year ago.

The Golden Eagles have a chance to earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with wins over Wisconsin, Purdue, Georgia and Maryland. Connecticut bounced back from a nightmarish 0-3 trip to Hawaii with wins over Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga, but I'm not convinced the Huskies will repeat as regular season champions. There are still issues on defense, with UW ranking 69th in defensive efficiency, and there are questions at point guard.

If Cadary Richmond can find his game and the latest version of Zuby Ejiofor settles in, St. John's could challenge both of them. However, it's more likely that Rick Pitino's team will finish third.

Improvements at the bottom

A year ago, Georgetown and DePaul were two of the worst teams in the nation's most power conferences. In league matches, they had a total of 2 wins and 38 losses. Both players appear to be improving with only three non-conference losses.

New coach Chris Holtmann brings accountability and organization to DePaul.

Georgetown coach Ed Cooley made quality offseason transfers in Micah Peavy (TCU) and Malik Mack (TCU) to increase the talent level while retaining high-scoring guard Jaden Epps. Harvard) and added top-50 freshman forward Thomas Sober.

It would be surprising to see either team finish in the top half of the Big East, but Georgetown and DePaul are not pushovers. Just look at Georgetown's win over former Big East rival Syracuse and DePaul's home win over Wichita State last Saturday.

Check out the latest Big East standings and St. Louis standings. John's statistics

Don't sleep at Villanova

Sure, the Wildcats have had some ugly losses. A home game against Columbia and a neutral game against Virginia are at the top of the list. Holding the NCAA Tournament will be difficult.

But I believe Villanova can be this year's Seton Hall. This is a team that struggled mightily in November and finished in the top half of the conference. Eric Dixon was an All-American and the Wildcats won four straight games by an average of 18.7 points. That includes a home win over No. 19 Cincinnati.

Transfers Uga Poplar (Miami) and Jameel Bricas (La Salle) have recently arrived, taking some of the pressure off the 6-foot-8 Dixon.

Will a weak non-conference season negatively impact the league?

Without a doubt. Right now, I think the Big East has four places earning bids to the NCAA Tournament: Marquette, Connecticut, St. John's, and Creighton.

Injuries to Isaacs and Fremantle obviously don't help matters. One thing working in the league's favor is that the ACC and Mountain West are struggling as well. KenPom.com still rates the Big East as better than both leagues. The selection committee has to find 68 teams somewhere. If someone like Villanova or Xavier has a strong league season, I'm not going to fire a fifth team.

But right now, only two teams, Marquette (No. 9) and Connecticut (No. 11), count as Quad 1 games on the opponent's home court based on their NET rankings. St. John's University (37) is a close third. Therefore, the chances of a breakthrough victory will not be very high. Therefore, November and early December are very important when it comes to March.